Why $100 is the perfect Blu-ray player price

[drfsupercenter]

!. You just got the HDTV correct? If so and still under warranty or grace period just go to store or where ever and say you're willing to pay lil xtra for 1 w/the cable card slot, and take the loss on delivery if it gets there.

2. They have them and yes it works as long as you have a sub to your cable company.

3. All the premium channels you will get at Basic Cable price. Capiche. Hence the Black Box. Remember $500. Lol... 1 time fee. All legal. You're paying for Basic, just a lil xtra gravy on the house.

4. Evil is pumping analog to you w/those local HD channels. Paying for it as well.

5. In time w/e channels you don't have will arrive. Still at 1 time $500 price. Comprende.

6. This is the cable descrambler drf. It scrambles the premium channels not allowed straight to your HDTV. At Basic Channel Price. With card even better. Run a splitter to other TV etc...

Well, the thing is, Panasonic stopped putting CableCard slots on their TVs. But rumor has it they'll start again soon. It's hard to tell. But the model number will be different, I'm sure...

Our cable company doesn't work like that... there's "basic" cable and then there's the digital ones you have to pay more for. I have a feeling, though, that WOW sends the exact same thing through everybody's cable - and whatever box/card you have then lets you view the channels you pay for. As when I scanned with my TV, it found a bunch of other digital channels that had "no signal" - likely the DRM they put on it, so my TV can't find the real signal. I think TWC does something different entirely.

How is it evil giving people free HD along with analog cable? That's awesome! Then I don't have to pay more for it or set up a rig with my rooftop antenna... LOL

I know what a descrambler is, but since the "premium channels" are all digital, it would have to more like a decrypter, wouldn't it? CableCards pretty much do that exact same thing, except they have to be installed by a technician, and they have a special number on them that's address-locked so if you give it to somebody else they'll know and they'll cancel the service. I just can't find a device that uses the CableCard to decrypt the signal and then re-send it out via coax... just TV tuners and DVRs that accept that type of input.

[dr_ml422]

drf you're missing the boat here. All cable companies send all the signals/channels whether premium/digital or not to you. The box you get from them w/w/e sub you decide to pay for will allow just that. The service you're paying for. Think of the cable box as a command center. If it's just allowed to open the basic and close the premium and everything else out then that's what you'll get. Technically you're paying for reception whether you like it or not, and what you pay is what you get w/the box they give you already fixed w/the limits according to your plan. You following me now. There's now way they're going to have 2,3,4 or more signals being sent out through different lines and different sources. They'll go bankrupt, or you will for paying up the wahoo for a dedicated premium and or HD line.

Now the Black Box, which incidently might be cheaper down your way, remember I'm in NYC everything's more here usually, will have all the channels open that are available. You'll know that. The guy who hooks you up will know that, but WOW or whoever won't. They still have you as getting/paying for Basic Cable. They can't tell whether or not the box they gave you is delivering all the goodies. Why, because you'll have their box in the closet and the Black Box hooked up.

If for any reason something goes wrong w/your service and they have to come out, you just put the Black Box in the closet and hook their box up until they're outta there. You better.

So that's the ticket. Basic rates for Premium/HD service. They're a bunch of crooks all of them. Why should you who through about 4 maybe more posts in this thread alone, have to pay to watch those rarely wanted flics/shows when you prefer putting your own disc in w/e player. There's millions like you, and millions that don't have or don't want 2 to 3000 discs laying around or 4 to 5 hd's storing them. So in essence they're making everyone pay way too much for something that should be offered either at a very reasonable price or at no price at all.

Don't worry about the model on the HDTV. Of course it's going to be different, heck you might even get a different make altogether. Main thing is to get them to exchange or replace yours for maybe a few $$$'s more depending on the goodies you want and how convincing your argument is.

As for the card, you'll either get one from the cable company programmed for just what you pay for, or you get yourself a Black Card from your new friend which provided you w/the Black Box. If you just want the Black Card that's up to you, but you'll have more options as far as hookups w/the Black Box as you could run a splitter to another set, HDTV or not. Hey your new friend might even hook up another set via some way I don't know through the Black Card. Once he's there tell him all you want and he'll tell you all that can be done. He's the Tech remember. Lil Higher Tech than most. Lol...

This one's on the arm, I usually charge a retainer fee.

You're a Giant among Insects, don't let anyone tell you any different.

[drfsupercenter]

Well what sets WOW apart from other cable companies is that they have a basic analog cable plan that doesn't need *any* receiver at all. Like I said, we don't even have any in our house.

Some cable companies like Comcrap or TWC require you to have one of their official cable boxes... I don't think *anything* will show up if you plug the cable straight into the TV.
This is the listing of channels. (You'll have to click on Michigan to get it to show)
I get 2-89, plus 200-206... clearly the rest of them are there but they're encrypted somehow.

So if I get a black box, why would I need them to come out at all? To get the decryption code from it? I doubt I could play dumb and get them to give me that info... the people from WOW are either stupid or know about all these sorts of things.

[dr_ml422]

Oh boy. Ok. So if you don't need a box/receiver then why are you even contemplating getting a cable card? To get analog channels? The purpose of getting a receiver is to receive additional channels. In other words all you want is those basic analog channels to view on your HDTV? Doesn't make sense whatsoever. Why get a HDTV if all you're going to do is watch analog that's scrambled when it gets to your set, or some local HD channels?

As far as getting them to come out, you could start by getting service that requires a receiver/cable box. Then you make the hookup n get the Black Box. After a lil bit you just cancel the plan and go back to your basic analog. The Black Box will take care of the rest. If you think for 1 second that you're going to get some Black Box or Black Card from the web for free you're crazy. This has to be a personal transaction where service rendered constitutes payment. The guy at WOW, and only the guy at WOW can hook you up. If you get some other guy that'll get you the Black Box in your area then that's ok too. Still to make it right you'll need to sub to WOW's service. I can prolly get reception as I have in the past by just plugging in the cable. I told you that. That's called plain reception. The signal like I said b4 that they charge you for.

Oh I get why you don't understand. You think this Black Box is something apart from WOW that decodes huh? It's not. It's their own box and guess what, it might not be the color black. I call it Black Box for obvious reasons. That's why you need the WOW guy to come over. There is no decoder or codes. He'll just open up the WOW Box and unleash the Ram or w/e is programmed to include the Premium HD Channels. Now you understand? Hopefully this'll clear it up a bit.

Believe me that 1 day whether you have a receiver or not, they're going to have to come to the house on a service call. It's inevitable.

So do you want a Black Card or Black Box or not? There's no grey area drf. I got tired of old girlfriends telling me they almost got pregnant. Lol... This isn't video 19 stuff here we're talking. Hundreds of freeware for that. Now you get it. I'm out of answers. Maybe you can help me now.

Btw, they know you're not playing dumb. They're just waiting for the door to open 1 inch to say yes I can do it. The negotiating starts at that moment. Always start low sounding like you know the going rate and then come to a mutual agreement. Then ask them to put everything you want that you could possibly get at that time. More modems, tele jacks, cable wires, etc... The sky's the limit.

[drfsupercenter]

No, what I'm saying is I don't have a receiver because we only *have* analog channels. I'm gonna try to convince my parents to get "digital basic" anyway... as they're the ones paying for it. I guess it's just the concept of cable boxes I don't like, if the TV can play QAM feeds just fine.

I thought those black boxes were hacked devices that could decrypt your cable... I didn't realize you meant it's just an official cable box. Isn't that the same as getting a cable box, then canceling your digital service and telling them your box broke? (And maybe give them some generic box back you bought on eBay?)
Because I was googling those Black Boxes and they kept mentioning an Avenger MX chipset... so that's not what I want? I was thinking that's the sort of thing I'd need.

I would want a Black Box but since I live with my parents, they'd probably frown upon the whole thing. It would be nice to only have to pay once and be able to get the digital channels anywhere... not just on one TV. (As they make you pay per box, AFAIK)

What is a "Black card"? Is that a CableCard I described but you're getting it for free? Honestly, their CableCard plan is nice... the lady said we'd be *saving* about $5 a month by getting Digital Basic and a CableCard. I just don't have a TV that supports it. There'd be no reason to get one of those if it's cheaper to get the basic digital anyway!
It's just the cable box service that costs more... as if I'd even use OnDemand anyway!!

As far as asking them stuff... could I just ask them for all the digital channels in unencrypted QAM? If they can give us locals there's no reason why they all can't be like that! (I mean, unless it's a routing issue where the whole city would end up getting premium digital for free, LOL)

[dr_ml422]

Now you got it. That's why they're the crooks. They want to charge you for stuff you're not going to use and on top of that for crazy repeats on the Premium and VOD which you could care less about. As far as the Black Card it'll be their cable card w/all the Goodies, just you'll be paying for the basic like you said is even cheaper than the cable box. Since you don't have the HDTV for the Card right now don't worry.

As far as your parents well that's your decision. You could be honest and tell them the truth that the Cable Guy hooked you up. You'd be surprised how Honesty most of the time is best policy.

You can't ask them for the Digital Channels in unencrypted QAM because the Premium HD and all those channels come via the Box. That's why you pay for the Box 1 time and that's it. After that you'll just pay the cheapest Basic Analog service monthly or w/e, but you'll be getting all the Premium and then some. Then you could run all the splitters or w/e to your PC, Xbox 360 etc... Matter of fact like I said have him do it. You're paying him remember. HD is fairly new on Cable, not that new, but I'm almost + the guys working for WOW already have some boxes on the side ready to be hooked up for guys.

No you can't give them another box that's messed up. They gave you a working box so you have to give them back their box. Remember that once you get the Box from your new Friend you just stash the one WOW gave you away like I said just in case of some power failure or something. When they come out for service their box will be in and your Black Box in the Closet until they're gone. Then you put yours in again. They're not doing you any favors by giving you that cable straight to your set. That's just better reception through a dedicated line. Your HDTV has the Digital Tuner and gives you what WOW has and whatever else your set can add.

So do the Math. 3-$500 1 time fee and also most guys are cool, you could call them if any issues, and Basic monthly fee. After prolly a year or so depending on what the HD Premium costs it'll pay for itself. You'll be saving way more than $5 a month. Got it now. Lol...

[drfsupercenter]

Wait, what's the $500 for? That's what the tech guy would charge for one of those boxes?

So basically all a "Black Box" is an official cable box with the codes for the highest level programming that the support guys can give/sell you? I just have a feeling the WOW people won't do that, and could even get mad if I ask about one.

As far as those channels coming via the Box... they also come via CableCard. Like I said, everybody who has WOW is getting the same thing running through their cable as far as I know. The CableCard just goes in your TV and thus allows it to decrypt the digital channels that it ordinarily couldn't play. So a "Black Card" would be basically pointless, as if I DO get a device that's CableCard compliant, it's LESS money to get Digital Basic service with a CableCard (Not sure why... that's just what they told me when I asked)
They said the only thing you get with a box that you don't with a CableCard is the "interactive TV guide" and OnDemand. Interactive TV guide is stupid, I can do that with the Internet Channel on my Wii and TitanTV.com. LOL

As far as running splitters or whatever... can you do that for HD? Or are you saying the box would plug in where the cable comes in the basement, and then the channels would be going right back into the TV unencrypted? (I thought it was just a cable box that you can keep)
What would happen if something DID happen to your cable box? Like legitimately, I mean... Surely they'd charge you for another, but is that all that would happen? We have this crappy old analog cable box that I need to give back to WOW (They give you one box for free with analog, anyway...), as previously we had a TV that didn't have a working tuner... which we got rid of. Though if I could keep it as a backup it wouldn't hurt... but I don't think they're OK with that (the ISP)

HD premium costs aren't even that much... I think it's like $10 more a month to get "Digital Basic" plan. There's also Digital Value which is all the channels we have now but it has all the HD instead of just the local ones... and that's like $5 more. That's only around $120 for a year...

At this point I just want to see if Panasonic is making plasmas with CableCard input again... maybe I could swap it out. But would they let you do that at Costco? Like just tell them I wanted a feature they didn't have before and switch it?

[dr_ml422]

The $500 or w/e is for the tech guy. WOW has nothing to do w/this. He's hooking you up for a fee so he could make some xtra $$$ on the side. They get paid squat. You just don't ask any tech guy. You do some homework. Ask your buddies, classmates or whoever if they know where you could get a Black Box. More than likely someone will know. The guy will come w/the Black Box fixed up so you could get all the Goodies. Once he's there you could ask him to hook up any other sets or w/e to the Black Box. The splitters and xtra cables will be getting the HD signals from the Black Box so you could view them on another source.

The point of getting either the Black Box or the Black Card is that down the line you'll be saving big time. Those xtra $5 or so add up believe me.

Yes you can go back to Costco if it's not too late and tell them you wanted a HDTV w/a card and just really noticed that the slot wasn't there when you went to call WOW to hook it up. W/e the excuse, it don't matter. Costco's a Big outfit. Consumer's 1st priority. You live in a nice area so they shouldn't make a fuss about a exchange, even if it's a lil more.

This isn't done overnight. You sit down and write what you want, how many xtra connectors, asking price etc... Most of my friends are already fed up w/the garbage they're paying for monthly. Over here it can go as high as $120 or so. So $500 large is a sweet deal.

[drfsupercenter]

Well I can try the Costco thing... but first I have to see if Panasonic is even using CableCards again. Though I think the 2-year warranty that comes with the TV is nice enough to where they'll actually come out to your house, take the old one and give you a new one. Which is nice as it took my dad and I a lot of effort to get it down the stairs

If I can get a replacement TV with a CableCard I'd have no reason to need a Black Box. The CableCard has "digital basic"... which comes with about 50 channels more than "digital value" and it's like $5 less than what we're paying for analog. (And the other TVs would still have analog)... for some reason with a cable box, the same digital basic costs about $12 more a month.

My friend said he has a hacked satellite box so he can use the dish on his house without even having a service. LOL. He has WOW cable, same as me. I need to go over and check that out sometime.

But you don't know of any devices where you can put in a CableCard and it'll send the signal out as coaxial, so I can just plug it in the coaxial spot on my TV? It should be totally possible, but I'm sure they don't have those for legal reasons... (Like, if you plug that device in before it splits off to the rest of the house)

[dr_ml422]

You'll have Digital Basic w/about 50 more channels, but no Premium though. As far as something where you can plug in the cable card how about your Pc? I think but not sure you could put a slot in it for the card and have the signal go to your PC, then you might be able to point it towards your set. It'll be a Ht, which isn't bad at all as you could also hook up your Xbox360 to your pC as well. Doesn't the Xbox360 or the PS3 come w/a slot for a card? That's another option.

Don't break your head over finding something to accommodate your HDTV. Just try sending it back and getting one w/a cable slot or 2. The Black Box and Black Card options will always be there should you want them. The longer you wait the better they'll be because WOW will definitely add more options as well.

What's good about getting the Black Box or Black Card is that once the guy is installing it he can then route it to wherever you want that's possible. You see they're trained for that and will have all the cables and Goodies to do it. Might as well hook something up to the net so you could have both options of downloading and burning and watching flics or w/e on your set.

Here you go so you could get a idea of what you'll be getting.

http://images.google.com/images?q=picture+of+a+cable+box+with+splitters+to+different+sets.&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=vgqRSYS7KZaitgfDlOjUCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

[drfsupercenter]

Well don't those black boxes act like cable receivers? So each TV you want to have the digital channels would need its own?

Or are you saying it would just decrypt everything like a wildfeed I could plug into anything? (That's kinda what I was after anyway!)

The Xbox 360 and PS3 do not have CableCard slots. CableCards are just special PCMIA cards. As far as I know, only laptops have those and even so, there aren't exactly drivers... you'd need a TV tuner with CableCard support. I don't even care about the HD channels except for my HDTV...
(though it would be nice to record them on my computer! Maybe I can get one of those tuners that can take a CableCard and just ask the WOW guy for a second one)

[dr_ml422]

Those Black Boxes which are WOW's cable boxes just send out the signals. It'll be your command center, so anything off a splitter to either another set or your PC via the tuner or Cable Card will be exactly what you would see on your HDTV. This is why it's a great idea to get it. Otherwise you're looking at paying for additional boxes for every set and the installation fees if any. For the price of the Black Box you'll get all the installations and then some, as long as you work it out w/the guy b4 hand. Just something to think about, but I strongly feel many will go this route.

As a matter of fact they have Black Cards for DTV. How advanced they got w/them I don't know. The set back w/them was that they needed to get zapped up again every once in a while. W/the Black Box it's set it and forget it.

Here check out what I'm talking about: http://images.google.com/images?q=pi...num=1&ct=title

[drfsupercenter]

So if they're WOW cable boxes... wouldn't every TV need one? Surely I wouldn't be able to use the TV's built-in tuner then?

For now I'll wait until Panasonic is installing CableCard slots again. Not sure why they stopped... I guess most people didn't use them. (How can you prefer cable boxes? The TV has a tuner... why not use it? And On Demand and interactive TV guides are stupid)

[doctorhardware]

IMHO that was very short sighted by Panasonic. With HD going as a standard, I would rather have the ability to 86 the cable box and use a direct feed to the TV. That way there is no signal degradation. It is straight to the TV.

[drfsupercenter]

Yeah.

That's why I love CableCards. Some people hate them as you can't do On Demand or the "interactive program guide", but I love the concept of being able to have a direct feed with a little card containing the codes.
Plus, it's cheaper

If they ever do start making CableCard-compliant TVs again I'll bug my parents enough to try switching them.